Description
Grandcamp, Evening is a painting by Georges Seurat from 1885, to which he added the dark painted border around 1888–1889: from a garden above the coast we look over dense bushes to a wide, calm sea with a single sailing boat, a shore with houses stretches into the distance on the left, and a grey, banded sky lies over everything. The original, oil paint on canvas, measures 82.4 x 66.2 cm and is held by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York under number 285.1983. We make it as a canvas painting, hand-painted in oils together with the painted border, in eight sizes or to your own measurements, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval.
| Title: | Grandcamp, Evening |
| Other titles: | Grandcamp, Evening – the title the museum itself uses |
| Painter: | Georges Seurat (1859–1891) |
| Year painted: | 1885, painted border c. 1888–1889 |
| Original size: | 82.4 cm x 66.2 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Short strokes and dots of pure colour, dark painted border |
| Located at: | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (inv. no. 285.1983) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes from 46 x 38 cm to 150 x 120 cm, custom size on request |
Grandcamp, Evening – Georges Seurat
What does the painting show?
The sea, seen from a garden high above the shore. At lower left white steps descend between walls beside a brick pillar; higher up, a white post and a wooden fence run towards the houses at the left edge. From this corner dense, dark green bushes slope diagonally across the middle, a thin, bent branch sticking out of them on the right. Below the bushes, on the right, a narrow strip of shore opens where the pale water meets the land. Above it spreads a wide, calm sea, pale greenish and scattered with bright glints. Right of centre sails a single boat with a dark sail; to its left a small, low shape lies on the water, perhaps a rowing boat. On the left a long shore with low houses stretches away towards the centre. The upper half is sky, greyish and banded with horizontal clouds that lighten towards the horizon. There are no people. A dark, dotted border runs along all four sides.
What is on the canvas?
A horizontal canvas that Seurat builds from short strokes and dots of pure colour. In the sky and the sea the strokes are small, horizontal and packed tightly, so the surface lies still; in the bushes they are livelier and cross each other, so the foliage looks dense and alive. If you know pointillism as even, round dots, you will see a mixture here: dots in places, short strokes in others, depending on what is depicted. The most unusual part of the painting is its border. The museum record gives two dates: the landscape is from 1885, the painted border from around 1888–1889. The border is therefore Seurat’s own and part of the work; it is made of dark, densely placed dots, among which blue and reddish tones can be told apart in the photograph. The museum gives the size as 66.2 x 82.4 cm (26 x 32 1/2 in.), height before width. Colours on screen may differ from the original, so take them as a guide rather than a sample.
Why does this painting matter?
Because one canvas shows two moments: a seascape from 1885 and the border that the French painter Georges Seurat painted onto it a few years later, as the museum record says. The painting is closed not by a frame but by colour; the dark border rounds off the scene and heightens the light of sky and sea within. The composition is clear as well: the dark diagonal of the bushes separates land from sea, while the horizontal bands of water, shore and sky give it calm. For a buyer it works both as a view through a window and as a finished object on the wall, with its own border that belongs to the original.
What does the painting mean?
A quiet hour by the sea, as the word evening in the title already suggests. The light is soft and diffused, without hard shadows; the sky is grey, while the sea stays bright. A lone sailing boat on open water and an empty garden with steps suggest that the day is nearly over and people have gone. The viewer stands somewhere above the steps, looking over the bushes into the distance. It tells no story; it invites calm looking. At home it feels serene, its grey, green and bluish tones suiting linen, wood, grey and white walls and quiet rooms such as a bedroom or reading corner.
What place does it have among Seurat’s works?
The museum record dates it to 1885 and the border to around 1888–1889: one date for the landscape, one for the border. Grandcamp is also in the title of Boats, Low Tide, Grandcamp; Le Bec du Hoc, Grandcamp hangs in the National Gallery in London. Evening appears in the title of Evening, Honfleur, which is likewise at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the sea, judging by its title, in Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington. For more than one Seurat sea view on your wall, this one can hang beside any of them.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil paint, never by machine. Our painter works from an image of the original and first lays out the large areas: sky, sea, the strip of shore and the diagonal of the bushes. Then he fills them with short strokes and dots, horizontal in the sky and water, livelier in the foliage. The pointillist technique here is not uniform, so we follow the original and do not force identical dots everywhere. We paint the dark border together with the scene, because it is Seurat’s and part of the work; ours always has it on all four sides. The pale sea must stay calm and the small sailing boat clearly visible. Because everything is done by hand, no two canvases are ever quite alike, and every hand-painted copy is unique. We do not have our own photographs of a finished canvas of this subject yet; the first time we paint it, we will photograph it and publish the photographs here.
Which size for which wall?
If you are not sure which to choose, take 80 x 65 cm. It is the size closest to the original: the original measures 82.4 x 66.2 cm, and ours is 2.4 cm narrower and 1.2 cm lower. The format is horizontal, so it fits above a sofa, a chest of drawers or a bed. 46 x 38 and 50 x 40 cm suit smaller walls, hallways and work corners; 60 x 50 and 70 x 60 cm fill a bedroom or dining-room wall by themselves; at 80 x 65 and 90 x 75 cm the strokes and the painted border show well; 120 x 100 and 150 x 120 cm are for large living rooms, where the sea becomes almost a window onto the coast. The border is scaled to every size and is always painted. Every oil painting reproduction of this subject is made to order.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits your wall, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the original, so that the sailing boat, the bushes and the border stay in place; that is our custom size painting service. Every canvas comes stretched on a wooden stretcher bar, ready to hang. You choose a frame in our 3D app, which shows gold, silver, black, white and wooden profiles on this subject; the app is only for choosing the frame. To see the painting on your own wall, use our separate room-visualisation service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every canvas is painted to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size. We dispatch it stretched, protected for transport and framed if you wish, within Slovenia and across the EU with no customs duty. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval, and our returns policy applies to every order. All of Seurat’s subjects are in the Georges Seurat gallery, and our article about Georges Seurat sets out when a fine art reproduction of a famous painting is truly good.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
In the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, under number 285.1983. The museum lists it with the note »Estate of John Hay Whitney«.
What is the dark border around the painting?
A painted border, which the museum record dates to around 1888–1889, a few years after the landscape of 1885. It is Seurat’s own and part of the work, not a frame.
Does your painting include this border?
Yes, always. We paint the border together with the landscape on all four sides, in every size.
Is this a print?
No. It is hand-painted oil on canvas; the brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Which size should I choose?
80 x 65 cm, the size closest to the original. The detailed guide is above.
Can I have a size that is not on the list?
Yes. We paint to measure and keep the side ratio of the original.
Is this neo-impressionism?
The museum record does not assign the painting to a movement, so neither do we. What is visible is a surface of short strokes and dots of pure colour placed side by side.
Are there boats in the painting?
A single sailing boat with a dark sail right of centre, and to its left a small, low shape on the water, perhaps a rowing boat. There are no people.
Is the original for sale?
No. The canvas is in the museum’s collection and is not for sale; we can paint it by hand for your home.
How high should I hang it?
With its centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor; hang the smaller sizes lower, nearer to where you sit.
Is it a good gift?
Yes, especially for someone who loves the sea and quiet coastal landscapes. If you would rather leave the choice to the recipient, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: a calm sea with one sailing boat, seen from a garden above the coast over dark bushes and white steps – 1885, painted border c. 1888–1889
- Original: 82.4 x 66.2 cm, oil paint on canvas, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (inv. no. 285.1983)
- Ours: hand-painted with the painted border, eight sizes from 46 x 38 to 150 x 120 cm, always stretched, framed on request
- Worth knowing: Seurat painted the dark border around the scene a few years after the landscape, and it is part of the work
